"I have seen the worst outcome, and I can't help but be enamoured with it. Thus, I shall bring it, starting with your death, Made- ARGH!!!" The man with empty eyes quickly dropped his dagger as a tiny arrow flew through his wrists. "Who dares impede my plans?!"

"Me, you insolent cur." The attacker and I looked at the door to see a woman wearing a torn-up ball dress and a worn-down tiara, holding a small crossbow in one hand. "The greatest tyrant across the entirety of Mendass, Rio motherfucking Verdeux!"

"Wait, Mistress Rio? I thought you died twice!" I remember that day like it was… seventy years ago? Eh, doesn't matter. All I remember was the arrow flying right through her skull.

"And I'm back! It is exquisite what countless time loops can do to someone, even as great as I! Isn't that right, Deja?" From Rio's shadow rose a familiar face. My face, to be exact. How did she get a shadow clone? "Ah, a shadow clone. Now that you mention it, Deja's face does look like your own. Also, good to know you still speak your mind, maid."

("Do you have any idea what's going on, sister?"
"I lost the plot back when I was still stuck in Side Character, sis. I have no fucking idea what's going on.)

"You! Blasted you!" The man took out the arrow that was shot into his wrist. "Why impede my plan?!"

"Because," Rio aimed her crossbow at the man while Deja took out her shadow daggers, "No one touches my property."

Out of nowhere, a large, bulky, half-dragon came crashing through the windows, carrying a woman under one of his arms who looked familiar… oh! "Hey Mel, ain't that the merchant form you had?"

"Oh, it is. I'm surprised you remembered her. Do you remember Rich?"

"Who the hell is Rich?"

"I am Rich! Rich Ardrago, leader of the Dragon's Keep. I heard someone say property, and I believe I may be of service here."

("Do you think he knows about the time loops, Deja? Merchants tend to know everything… Why are you shaking your head? Did I say something stupid?")

"Let me down, teach! I want to take shelter under that desk instead of being in the middle of all this nonsense!"

"Haha! Settle down, apprentice. You have nothing to worry about, for I am here!" Rich let out a very hearty laugh, much to the chagrin of Merchant Mel (I remember the name of the noble one, but did Mel ever tell me the merchant's name?) under his arm. "You'll be alright, unless a spirit, a demon or a god appears, but all of those are incredibly unlikely!"

At that moment, a tree grew out of the ground, sprouting out many branches, leaves, and yellow fruit… lemons! It's the lemon tree! Out of the trunk came a woman with lemon yellow hair and a tree brown body, and with her also lemon yellow eyes, she glared at me. "Where is the Chaos Storm?!" 

("Why the fuck is there a lemon tree now?! Why does it have a spirit?!"
"I asked the same thing when Side Character gave me that information, sis."

"Hmm… I've never seen such fruit. I wonder how much it'll sell?"
"Seriously, teach, let me down!!!"

"My plan! My plan! All in shambles!"
"There, there, bud. Maybe me and Deja will see your plan succeed in a different loop.")

Before I could answer the spirit's question, she pointed her finger at me, and a root from under the mansion's floor shot out, aimed at my neck. The root was stopped by the appearance of a basically naked demon, who blocked it with a single finger. "Uh-uh-uh. No one is allowed to play with my prey!"

"Ah, Lilith. One of my favourite customers. What brings you here?"

The demon, who stood in front of me, turned to me and grabbed under my chin. "I'm here for this cutie." She leaned forward, but then Mel pulled me away from the demon and towards herself.

"Go fuck a shadow clone. Madeleine is mine."

"But Mammon doesn't like to share."

"Well, I don't either." Aww… Mel's hugging me tight… too tight… Mel, Mel!

("And now a demon… so who do you think will come next, sis? A phantom thief? A god? The entirety of Ohio?"
"I am not your sister, and also help me out of here. I don't like being held under his arm."
"I'd help, but he's a half-dragon, and I'm just a puny human.")

"That's no fun."

"There will be no fun today, old friend." Everyone looked at the source, a skeleton in a cloak standing at the entrance of Merida's office. I could feel chills go down everyone else's spine, except for Lilith, Rio, and I. I could see everyone else seemed to be paralysed.

"Ah, Croen the Traitor. What brings you here?"

("Oh, so that's his name. He didn't tell me back in the 32nd loop."

"So this is the God of Death… even a half-dragon like I trembles."
"Let go of me, teach! I seriously don't want to be here anymore!!!")

"You only call me a traitor because, unlike you cowardly lot, I chose to ascend. As for my purpose here, I am done playing games and shall ascend further more."

"Godhood not enough for you? Hmph, even Mammon couldn't measure up to you."

Croen was about to speak up but was promptly interrupted by a darkness that swallowed the entire room, leaving everyone in Merida's office in an all-encompassing emptiness that sent chills down the spines of the ancient demon Lilith, the death god Croen, and the very experienced Rio. It looks like I'm the only one that remains unphased.

"Ha! Weaklings! It's just a little… dark…." This darkness, it feels familiar… ah, now I remember. I looked out the window to see a man in a pinstripe suit, with a hamster in his pocket and countless otherworldly creatures squirming within his suit jacket. He walks through the window and stops right in front of me, pulling my hand towards him. He pulls out a jar with eyes in them, placing them firmly in my hand before disappearing and turning everything into normal. I hear everyone else breathing heavily as if they couldn't breathe in that heavy darkness. While they're distracted, let's look at my gift.

I don't understand that side note. Eh, whatever. I turn to look at the crowd, and I find them staring at me in silence, which is broken by Croen, who could only mutter out a simple question, "What… what are you?"

"I know very well what she is." Everyone looked at the new voice, which came from a mature-looking maid with numerous weapons floating behind her. She took loud steps, her heels clacking on Merida's floor. Each step she took seemed to freeze an individual in this room, even the ones who were unphased by Croen. Her final step, which stopped before me, even managed to make me freeze with fear, something I was unfamiliar with. I was about to ask her how, but her following words answered my question very clearly. "Hello there, daughter."

"Hey Merida, I'm in debt since I got caught cheating in a poker tournament when they found out I used my Sacred Power to paralyse my compe… this seems really important. I'll talk to you later, Merida."

Character profile: Noemashi

Sacred power: Hope

Favourite colour: Grey

Description: Hope Incarnate, whose eyes were taken by that from Beyond. Noemashi was a young man with a good heart who would help anyone who asked for his help in his home village. He lived in relative peace, bringing hope and joy to his fellow villagers. He was approached by a stranger one day, a man who wore a tight-fitting suit despite the hot season, and the stranger asked for Noemashi's help. He gleefully accepted, and the Man In The Pinstripe Suit took that as acceptance for a deal. That was the last day Noemashi was seen, and his village quickly spiralled into despair.

Chapter namesake: Beautiful Ruin by Masafumi Takada for Super Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair (Come on, the Sacred Power is literally Hope. I had to reference Danganronpa.)

pojlk

I got bored and flipped a coin on whether I'd kill Madeleine off again or cause an unnecessarily chaotic situation. Why did I need to do a coin flip to decide that? Because I had no idea what to do with Hope. Eh, whatever.